


Thunderstorms

by respoftw



Series: Infinity and Beyond [13]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Kid Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-13
Updated: 2018-07-13
Packaged: 2019-06-09 22:14:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15277311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/respoftw/pseuds/respoftw
Summary: Thunderstorms aren't scary; they're science.





	Thunderstorms

**Author's Note:**

> Part of the Infinity and Beyond series but you don't need to have read anything before this - just know that Rodney and John have a son called Dorian and he's super adorable, ok? I love him and I don't think I'll ever truly leave this series behind.
> 
> That being said, I think this fic is better if you've also read [part 8](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8199376). It's even shorter than this one so it won't take you long to read!

John doesn’t realise what’s woken him at first, his bed too comfortable and his mind too foggy to register much beyond the fact that he’s no longer sleeping.  It’s the sort of mugginess that comes with utter exhaustion; the kind of exhaustion that had become a routine part of his life since stepping through the Stargate to Atlantis all those years ago.

A loud clap of thunder sounded, clearing the fog of his brain as he rose closer to awake than sleep. _A storm_ , he thought. _It must be what woke me up_. John moved his arm from its position on his belly, fumbling at Rodney’s side of the mattress and finding it empty.

It was enough to make John sit up, still blinking the sleep out of his eyes. 

Frowning, he wondered if Rodney was still in the labs.  He couldn’t remember if Rodney had been there when he went to sleep or - - 

A muffled whimper drew John’s attention through the open door of the bedroom to the rest of the small apartment that made up their quarters.  John’s sleep-addled mind thought of Dorian first, like it almost always did, but it had been years since Dor had sounded that small, years since Dorian had cried out during thunderstorms.

The muffled whimper sounded again and John was halfway out of bed, his hand reaching to the bedside table for his radio to check on Rodney when the memory hit him like a ton of bricks.

_ Rodney was gone. _

John collapsed back on to his bed with a heavy thud.  Rodney wasn’t….he wasn’t Rodney right now. He wasn’t John’s husband, he wasn’t Dorian’s Dad, he wasn’t...he was a three-year-old boy who only answered to Meredith; a three-year-old boy who was evidently terrified of thunderstorms.

It was a testament to just how weird John’s life had become over the past twelve years that Rodney being de-aged to a toddler wasn’t even the weirdest thing that he had seen this month.  It wasn’t even something to worry about, not really. Zelenka had looked over the device that hit Rodney in the lab five days ago and assured them that the transformation was temporary. One week of dealing with a crabby, grabby, toddler Rodney and John would have his husband back, as good as new.  Everyone agreed that it wasn’t a big deal and Carson had sent Meredith home with them with barely even a blink.

John knew he should go and comfort the small boy that used to be his husband but he needed a moment to work up to it.  He may have lived through raising a toddler once before but it was infinitely more awkward when the toddler in question was the man you loved.

Moment taken, John heaved himself off the bed and made his way out into the living room, ready to cross the space to Dorian’s room where Meredith - _not Rodney but Meredith_ , he reminded himself - had been put to bed, Dorian sulkily taking the pull out in Rodney’s office.

He had barely taken a step when he heard voices.

He recognised Dorian’s voice.  At nine years old, Dorian was more McKay like than ever, including his inability to gauge the correct decibel level for a whisper.

“...and these currents of air go up and down really quickly,” Dorian was saying.  John watched as his hands waved, indicating the movement of the air currents. Meredith was watching him too, his big blue eyes entranced by Dorian’s explanation.  “And all the moving about of the air makes things makes this friction and - - “

“Wa’s that?” Meredith interrupted.  His small voice was still thin with repressed fear but John recognised the tone of curiosity - his Rodney had the same one when he came across a new piece of information and the magic of that - of that same tone spanning more than forty years of a life - - John felt like his legs might give way.  He sat on the couch to listen to the rest.

Dorian was busy trying to explain friction, getting Meredith to rub his little hands together as quickly as he could in an effort to build up a static charge.  Their blonde heads were close together, Dorian sitting on the bed next to Meredith’s small form. Rodney used to sit next to Dorian that very same way and John wondered if Dor remembered that.  

Meredith exclaimed in a mix of shock and delight when the static charge resulted in the expected static shock.  He was so delighted that the next flash of lightning and rumble of thunder didn’t even register.

“It’s not scary,” Dorian said, finished with his explanation of thunderstorms.  “It’s _science_.”

Meredith mumbled something too low for John to hear but he heard Dorian answer.

“My Dad taught me about them,” he said, his voice a little shakier than it had been.  “He was - _is_ \- he _is_ the smartest person in the whole wide world.”

“Smarter than you?”  Meredith asked, his disbelief making his voice loud enough for John to hear.

“Well, he is older than me,” Dorian said, magnanimously. 

“I see him?” Meredith asked hopefully.

“Two more sleeps,” Dorian promised.  “You’ll see him then. Get some sleep, Mer.”

“‘Kay.  Love you, Dor.”  Meredith sounded half asleep already, the instantaneous sleep of the very young.  

He would have been too close to sleep to hear Dorian’s reply but John did.

“Love you too, Dad.  Come back to us soon, ok?”

John slipped back to his room before Dorian noticed him, but it was a long time before he got back to sleep.

Two more sleeps.

They couldn’t come fast enough.

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> This fills the de-age square of my H/C bingo card which you can see [here](https://respoftw.dreamwidth.org/19969.html#cutid1)
> 
> Please feel free to suggest which square I do next (rachaeljurassic picked the square for this one), I'm aiming for blackout!


End file.
